Grab your snow shovel, it's time to get growing

Jan. 4, 2013

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Written by

Robert Zimmer

Post-Crescent staff writer

Winter willow adds striking color to the garden and landscape all winter long with its bright amber stems and vertical growth. For more color, add red osier dogwood and other colorful shrubs. / Robert Zimmer/The Post-Crescent

Hydrangea flowers keep the garden interesting during the winter. Try spray painting them in fun colors for added beauty. / Robert Zimmer/The Post-Crescent

More to come

This is part two of Robert Zimmer’s Winter Gardening series. In part three, coming Jan. 11, learn some amazing new ways to garden indoors during winter.

Toward Harmony conference in OshkoshWild Ones’ 17th Annual Toward Harmony with Nature Conference takes place Jan. 26 at the Oshkosh Convention Center. An all-day conference on native plants and natural landscaping, this year’s conference features speakers, exhibits and a silent auction. • Sessions for the conference include A Walk in the Woods: Knowing and Growing Woodland Species, with John Harrington, UW landscape architecture professor; Native Plants for Wet Places, with Corrine Daniels, nursery director, Applied Ecological Sciences; State Natural Areas: Wisconsin’s Best Kept Secret, with Randolph Hoffman, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and If You Plant It, Who Will Come?: Bird Species That Will Use Your Native Plantings, with Victoria Piaskowski, retired international coordinator of Birds Without Borders. • They keynote address will feature Curt Meine of the Aldo Leopold Foundation speaking on Ecological Restoration: Extending Leopold’s Legacy in the 21st Century. • Of interest to gardeners, ecologists, wildlife enthusiasts, students and the general public — anyone who wants to learn more about landscaping and its effect on our natural environment — the annual conference promotes use of native plants in yards and gardens of all shapes and sizes. • For more information, or to register, visit www.towardharmonywithnature.org.

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Grab your snow shovel, it’s time to get out and garden. In part two of my four-part Winter Gardening series, you’ll learn some fun and unusual ways to escape into your yard and grow, as well as some great plants to add beauty and texture to the rest of your landscape all winter long.

Don’t let the snow and cold fool you, this is a great time to get growing.

Winter sown

One of the most exciting winter gardening activities is called winter sowing.

Simply put, winter sowing is a method you can use to germinate seeds and prepare them for more naturalized spring growth, now, by gardening outdoors.

There are also many plants and wildflowers that can be directly sown, right on top of the snow, just like in nature.

Winter sowing outdoors, either direct or in flats or containers, is a fairly new gardening trend, one that I have seen very rarely in our area.

There are several different ways to directly sow seeds in winter, from direct sowing over the ground when there is no snow, to spreading seed over the snow where you would like them to germinate.

For a great, inexpensive way to begin your own winter sowing hobby, gather gallon milk jugs to create your own miniature greenhouses. Cut them in half to create a growing pot at the bottom and use the funnel shaped top as a greenhouse cover. Poke a few holes in the top for ventilation.

To start seeds, simply fill the square-shaped bottom with potting mix, moisten the soil, scatter seeds over the top and apply a final, thin layer of soil to just barely cover the seed. Use duct tape to attach the top to the “greenhouse.”

Once your seeds have been set, place your miniature greenhouses outdoors and let Mother Nature do the rest. The natural cycle of freezing and thawing will loosen the seed coat, germinate the seed and provide moisture.

Winter sowing works wonderfully, and is a great alternative to starting seeds indoors under growing lights. Your space to garden is virtually unlimited, as long as the prepared containers are kept out of reach of pets and other disturbance.

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Better yet, your plant choices for outdoor gardening in winter are tremendous. Look for seeds that require stratification, or cold treatment, to bloom. Natives work especially well. While other gardeners are dreaming of their summer gardens in January and February, you will already be playing with dirt, planting seeds and getting your hands dirty.

Winter grown

January is the perfect time to prepare spring-flowering bulbs for winter forcing. Chances are you have leftover bulbs from fall planting, or maybe you received some for Christmas. Pot them up now, set them outdoors in the cold and snow for several weeks and you’ll have an excellent way to bring spring color indoors weeks ahead of schedule.

Winter also is the perfect time to do some pruning of shrubs and trees. Many trees and shrubs benefit from winter pruning. Knowing your trees and shrubs is important, however. Many flowering varieties should be avoided, as you will be removing the buds already set for next year. Consult with a good gardening publication, or online, to find out which woody plants can be pruned over winter.

It is also still possible to grow some hardy vegetables, especially greens and kale, outdoors even during winter. Using a cold frame or glass cloches as protective coverings, lettuces, spinach, dandelion, winter cress and kale can all be successfully germinated and sprouted outdoors.

Carrots, onions, beets and other root crops can be successfully harvested all winter long if left in the garden. Cover with a thick mulch of straw or sand and you’ll be able to dig in and enjoy their delicious winter sweetness all season long.

Color and texture

If you’re not into growing or sowing over winter, you can create a beautiful winter garden by incorporating plants that add color and texture to the landscape.

The huge, spiny seed heads of coneflowers (Echinacea) are wonderful for adding winter beauty to the garden. Resist the urge to cut back coneflowers, as well as most other garden perennials in fall, as the beauty they bring to the winter garden is outstanding.

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Dried hydrangeas add a burst of color to the otherwise black and white palette of the winter garden. Ranging in color from light pink to golden amber, the dried flowers can be up to 10 inches across or more, with scores of flower bracts that capture snow beautifully. Many of the shrubs have a “weeping” form, with branches that arch over in each direction. The long stalks dance in the winter wind, creating a delicate rustling sound.

Perhaps no plant brings winter beauty to the garden like evergreens draped in wintry white. Junipers and cedars, with their colorful, feathery fronds, hold snow well. The tough, sturdy boughs of powdery blue spruces and deep greens of black and white spruce capture fresh falling snow magnificently. The soft, gentle needles of hemlocks and yews gleam shiny, dark green. Many of these plants are available in miniature or dwarf varieties, making it possible to create a mini winter wonderland right in your own backyard.

The many varieties of yucca bring a great deal of winter beauty to the garden due to the fact that they remain green throughout winter, sending up fresh growth for much of the season. With their sturdy, spiky foliage in many shades of green, including variegate types in green, white and yellow, the yucca carries a tropical aura, yet many varieties are perfectly hardy in our Zone 4 and 5 climate.